Video tracking software
EthoVision XT
EthoVision XT is the most widely applied video tracking software that tracks and analyzes the behavior, movement, and activity of any animal.
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A cost-effective solution for all standard behavioral tests such as the Morris water maze and open field testing
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High-throughput and high-content testing
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Suitable for sophisticated test-protocols








Trusted by researchers around the world
EthoVision XT at the core of your lab
Over the last 25 years, EthoVision XT has evolved from video tracking software into a software platform. Designed to be at the core of your lab, EthoVision XT offers integration of data and automation of behavioral experiments with any animal.
Video tracking technology is versatile and we want you to have software that fits the bill for all of your experiments, from straight-forward protocols such as open field or Morris water maze testing to high-throughtput protocols or the automation of optogenetics or operant conditioning tests.

"The tracking software is extraordinary! Keep the good work going. You make our lives easy and each new version of EthoVision is testimony to the fact that the company is frankly put, the best at its game in the world. We appreciate this very much!"
Dr. D. Wolmarans |North-West University, South Africa
What is video tracking?
Video tracking means detecting an animal in a video file or from a live video feed, distinguishing it from its background, and tracking its whereabouts and movements. This is at the core of EthoVision XT.
In addition to tracking, EthoVision XT can also detect activity changes at pixel-level, ideal for studying behaviors such as freezing. You can also manually or automatically score behavioral events, such as rearing or grooming.

What you get out of it
As you can imagine the resulting coordinates and time stamps allow for many different kinds of analyses. EthoVision XT extracts a number of parameters (velocity, distance moved, time spent in a certain zone, and many, many more), and there are several ways to visualize your results, such as in the form of plots, graphs, tracks, and heatmaps.


Integration platform
When you define areas of interest in your arena, EthoVision XT relates movement, activity, and behavior to these zones, and use this information to base control of external equipment on. For example, drop a pellet as the mouse enters the correct arm of a radial arm maze.
EthoVision XT can also be used to integrate optogenetics, operant conditioning, and physiological data streams into your experiment.
Work remotely
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many users of EthoVision XT are currently facing lab closures and have to work from home. We can imagine you want to keep research projects going by continuing your video tracking and/or data analysis work remotely. So here are a couple of options that hopefully make the transfer to your home office as easy as possible.


EthoVision XT is used in over 10,000 publications. Get your free trial to try it out!
Examples of recent publications
- Iturra-Mena, A. M.; Aguilar-Rivera, M.; Arriagada-Solimano, M.; Pérez-Valenzuela, C.; Fuentealba, P. & Dagnino-Subiabre, A. (2019). Impact of stress on gamma oscillations in the rat nucleus accumbens during spontaneous social interaction. Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience, 13, 151.
- Phillips, K. F., Santos, E., Blair, R. E. & Deshpande, L. S. (2019). Targeting Intracellular Calcium Stores Alleviates Neurological Morbidities in a DFP-Based Rat Model of Gulf War Illness. Toxicological sciences, 169(2), 567-578.
- Sharon, G., Cruz, N. J., Kang, D. W., Gandal, M. J., Wang, B., Kim, Y. M., ... & Bramer, L. M. (2019). Human Gut Microbiota from Autism Spectrum Disorder Promote Behavioral Symptoms in Mice. Cell, 177(6), 1600-1618.
Relevant blogs

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A commonly used assay for assessment of fear in animals is the novel environment test.In this test, an animal is placed in an arena for a particular time period and behaviors are scored.
Why social pigs do better
If you want to get on in life, is it better to make friends, or should you trample down the competition? Maybe we can learn something from animals…